Tag Archives: Rubber Coated Steel

I have a short update, only tangentially related to my poetry and other writing on literature but (hopefully!) of interest to some of the same audiences. I’m very happy to announce that my review of Lawrence Abu Hamdan‘s short film, “Rubber Coated Steel,” just went up on the Peripheral Review website earlier this week–and it looks great! Alongside the text itself, the publication also features an excellent still (courtesy of the Images Festival, where I saw the film, for the second time, in Toronto) which really captures what the film’s about…so I’ve included it here, too. If you’re interested, you can check out the full review, titled “Lawrence Abu Hamdan’s Many Silences,” here.

Abu Hamdan’s film recounts the trial of Israeli border police officer Ben Deri, caught on camera shooting four unarmed Palestinian protesters on Nakba Day (May 15), 2014. Rather than restaging the trial or representing it through standard documentary film making, the film only shows us the text of the court transcript (which is presented as a series of subtitles) and some pieces of visual evidence, which take the place of targets in an underground shooting range. I knew I wanted to write about the film since I first saw it at the Beirut Art Centre in Lebanon last summer, especially since its themes of silence, noise, and erasure (as in the parts of the court transcript that are struck out, having been removed from the official record) intersect substantially with my doctoral research. In short, I couldn’t be happier that my thoughts made their way to Peripheral Review, and I’m very thankful to Lauren Lavery for her enthusiasm and support. Between this review and my Instagram residency last month, I’ve had a great time with the publication.

Like many art films, it might be difficult to catch a viewing of “Rubber Coated Steel,” although you can always check out the trailer while you’re waiting for it to be screened again in Toronto (or wherever else you happen to be!). I hope I did a fair job illustrating the film’s content in my review; even if you haven’t seen it, though, I think I’ve managed to articulate a few ideas worth wrapping your head around.